Group wants Delray to tone down ordinance

December 4, 2012|By Maria Herrera, Sun Sentinel

They are calling themselves the Downtown Hospitality Group.

And on Tuesday they will be asking the City Commission to stop enforcing the city's noise ordinance for 60 days so they can come up with an alternative to what they believe is a detrimental policy that could hurt the city's downtown economy.

The group of restaurant and bar owners in the downtown area met Monday to discuss a strategy to convince city officials revise its noise ordinance.

"This is a big concern to all of us," said Laura Simon, associate director of the Downtown Development Authority, who facilitated the meeting.

Simon said Jim Peters, of the Responsible Hospitality Institute, has agreed to tour the city and meet with restaurant owners Dec. 17 to come up with a proposed ordinance that allows business owners to entertain patrons while respecting residents' rights to peace and quiet.

In September, city officials raised noise violation fines to $1,000 per day for first-time offenders, $5,000 a day for second offenses and $15,000 a day for repeat offenders. Officials also made changes to how noise is measured -- the clatter needs to be heard 50 feet away from the source, instead of the decibel reading the city previously used to cite violators.

"This consultant has dealt with 50 of these situations around the country," said Burt Rapoport, owner of Deck 84, and who will be representing the group Tuesday at the City Commission meeting.

Commissioner Al Jacquet attended the meeting and said he will ask the rest of the commission to allow the public to speak during the item, which is on Tuesday's agenda.

"I'm afraid this will change the fabric of our downtown," said Jacquet, who voted against the ordinance.

Michael Braid, owner of the Orange Leaf, a yogurt shop on Atlantic Avenue, said the ordinance could ruin Atlantic Avenue's economy.

"If you kill the music, [the restaurants] are the ones that set the vibe on the Avenue. They bring the people," he said.

The City Commission meets Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the City Commission Chambers, 100 NW First Street.